Report: North Korea Rocket Engine Includes Ukrainian Technology

A rocket engine North Korea used in the test of its intercontinental ballistic missiles may have been of Ukrainian origin, according to a United Nations panel of experts report.

The report, which included information on two Singaporean firms found to have traded luxury goods with the Kim Jong Un regime, states the Ukrainian government said it was “highly likely” the North Korean engine contained separate components of Ukrainian technology, the Soviet-era RD-250, Tass news agency reported Friday.

Ukraine, however, denied that it had ever “undertaken attempts, signed contracts or entered into relationship with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” according to the report, which was leaked to the media.

Russian experts disagree, and the case is further complicated by the dissolution of the Soviet Union.